Today's Sports

That’s the gauntlet the Washington County Commanders (2-7, 1-2) have run in the past week, and while the Commanders only went 1-5 in that time, WC head coach Bernard Smalley said he saw several positives in his team’s play during the grueling stretch.

What jumped out to Washington County head coach Lena Bramblett as she prepared for the Thomas Nelson Generals (5-2, 1-0) and their high-scoring offense was how they used their distinct size advantage to score in the post.

So going into Friday’s game against the Generals, she instructed her players to “dare them to shoot it from the outside.”

Washington County junior DT Yocum had already scored seven points in the first three minutes and 30 seconds, so when he pulled up for his second 3-point attempt of the night, one enthusiastic fan couldn’t help but vocalize what the rest of the Commander supporters were thinking.

It was Michael Wheatley’s junior season as a Washington County Commander.

His team was taking on its biggest rivals in the Marion County Knights during his first year playing high school football, and the Commanders had lost the last two games in the historically close rivalry.

After the game ended on a controversial game-winning, fourth-and-goal touchdown by Marion County in overtime, Wheatley and his teammates couldn’t forget the agonizing feeling of that defeat.

Growing up, Brandon Smith always preferred basketball over football. He played “a little bit” in pee-wee football and two years in middle school, but other than that, Smith always chose to play basketball if he could.

“I liked it growing up because basketball’s more free,” Smith said. “You’re more loose, and there’s a lot going on. It’s just what I liked playing as a kid.”

Before the season, head coach Bernard Smalley said that the Washington County Commanders boys’ basketball team was going to run and gun. And so far, his team has not disappointed.

Although the Commanders have fallen short in their first two games — a 72-65 loss to the Model Patriots (1-3) and a 71-68 loss to the Beth Haven Bears (3-0) — they have reached at least 65 points in both games, something last year’s WC squad was only able to do twice the entire season.

In only its third game of the season, the Washington County Commanderettes (1-2) girls’ basketball team is already halfway to its win total from last year.
After the Commanderettes defeated the Brown Bears (1-1) on Saturday by a score of 49-33, first-year head coach Lena Bramblett also recorded her first win at the helm for WC. The victory came on the heels of losses to the West Jessamine Colts (2-0) and Taylor County Cardinals (2-1).

There was only two seconds remaining in the game, and the Washington County Commanders needed a spark.

The Commanders were 0-13 on the season and were in the midst of an overtime battle with the Valley Vikings. In addition to being a team hungry for its first win, it was also the first-ever boys’ basketball game in the gymnasium at the new Washington County High School.